BugWise

BugWise, bringing invertebrates to students. Photo: J Gollan © J Gollan.

BugWise for Schools

BugWise brings the world of invertebrates to your students, engaging them in real science in local environments.

Designed by Australian Museum scientists, BugWise is a resource-rich program that both measures invertebrate biodiversity and meets various syllabus and environmental education requirements. For example, BugWise is designed to meet the following aims and objectives of the current K-6 Science and Technology Syllabus (http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/go/science-and-technology)

Skills:
Students will be able to investigate natural phenomena.
Knowledge and Understandings:
Students will develop their knowledge and understanding of
a) Living Things
b) The process of investigation that people use in order to develop reliable understanding of the natural environment.

The BugWise workshop and activities are designed to meet the Outcomes of these Science and Technology units:
Stage 1-  Look Around You and What’s Alive
Stage 2- Miniworlds and Indoors, Outdoors
Stage 3- Environment Matters

Did you know?

Did you know that 99% of all living creatures are invertebrates? In Australia only about 20% of our invertebrates have been officially named and described. We share our homes, backyards and playgrounds with a multitude of insects and spiders that most have us have never taken the time to get to know.  

Invertebrates can provide lots of clues about the health of an environment. For example, invertebrates being studied now can act as indicators of the impacts of climate change. BugWise will help your students discover what invertebrates are, what they do, and why they are vitally important to a healthy planet.

How to get started

To get involved with BugWise, start at the websites homepage: www.bugwise.net.au. From here, you can download free resources about invertebrates, biodiversity and BugWise projects you can work on in your school grounds. The projects are simple and practical and are modelled on ecological surveying methods used by scientists in the field. In most cases students will be looking for evidence of invertebrates rather than actual animals. Currently the BugWise website provides resources for the following themes:

• measuring pollination
• measuring herbivory
• measuring predation
• measuring seed dispersal
• measuring soil engineering
• measuring decomposition
• web2Spider spider biodiversity.

BugWise can be used as a primary and secondary school classroom resource to help students plan and perform first-hand investigations in the local environment. Hypotheses about invertebrate diversity can be tested and results can be tabulated and graphed with help from the downloadable resources. Findings can also be posted and compared with other schools or community groups on the BugWise website forum. Issues like climate change, habitat loss and pollution can sometimes seem too big for any of us to understand or respond to. BugWise helps kids focus on the environment in a local context they can relate to. By performing their own experiments, students will be fully engaged in science processes and with the natural environment – environmental education at its best.

Environmental Education

BugWise can help your school fulfil many of the criteria of your School Environmental Management Plan (SEMP) and all of the goals of curriculum integrated environmental education as listed on the NSW Department of Education and Training website:

• Learn about the environment
• Develop skills to investigate and solve issues in the environment
• Acquire attitudes of care and concern for the environment
• Adopt behaviours and practices which protect the environment
• Understand the principles of ecologically sustainable development

The 2007–2010 Environmental Education Plan lists eight priority environmental themes for environmental education in NSW. BugWise can be used to investigate and demonstrate four of these: climate change, biodiversity conservation, landscape management, and pesticide and chemical management.

Workshops

Why not come to the Australian Museum for an educator-led BugWise workshop? Students will view an enthralling presentation on Invertebrate Biodiversity, featuring a large variety of preserved and live specimens. This is followed by a hands-on investigation working in small groups to answer a number of questions about biodiversity in the city and the habitats invertebrates like best. All equipment is supplied and participating schools will receive a BugWise starter pack that will allow them to carry out similar experiments back at school. Workshops can be modified to suit all ages and ability levels. To book, call 9320 6163. Cost per student: $3.30 plus museum entry $5 or ($6 after 1st July 2008)